Why not consider the $5 poetic slimline on amazon? Comes in some great colors and is every bit as good as the apple smart case. The apple product is way overpriced for what you get, IMO. The poetics is a smart case. It's advantage is that it is light in weight. And that is $5 shipped.

There is also the invellope case that is a smart case too, for $15 plus shipping. It is heavier than the poetic, only comes in black, but has a better cover than the poetic. But for $5, one of those poetic we tide you over. It is really attractive. Sleep/wake works and the cover stays closed.

On the invellope, the cover grabs the back with magnets in book mode. I think this is partly part of its extra weight.

That's funny you mentioned the slimline.
Last night I stopped by my parents' house and my sister happen to be there and she was handing out slimline cases. Not sure where she bought them but she did say they were $5.
She gave me a green one as that's the color my son wants on his mini.

For $5 I think this is an amazing product. My only complaint is that the cover does not fold or fold into a triangle like the Smart Cover.

This is what I had to play with.
My mom had a Smart Cover on her mini.
My sister had a slimline on her mini.
My brother-in-law had a slimline on his iPad3.
I have a smart case on my iPad3.

Although for the price, the slimline is awesome, I preferred the smart case above all else. IMO the quality is worth the price difference although expensive yes.

So I suppose there's no way to find out when the release date is for the mini smart case???

I agree 100% with your comments about this poetic. I was thinking that for $5 shipped, it could hold you over or, if you son likes it, it would be enough. We have to wait to see what apple does, but if they want $40 for the cover (if memory serves), you know they will want $50+ for the case. I have decide to forego the apple case this time as it was not to my liking for the iPad 2 and 3.

I have ordered 3 of the Poetic cases. I have the white one now.

I also have a invellop case, a Kay's Case, two different back only plastic sleeves, and a case my Khomo. I have one other by i-Blason on the way.

As you can see, I'm a bit nutty where cases are concerned. I try to fight it but that is not working.

Now, I'm picky. The Peotic looks great, fits great, closes great, it pops, but the cover doesn't do either stand mode well. It is fiddly to get it in stand mode. BUT, that baby is the lightest of all these at cases at 111g / 3.92 oz.

Kay's case is very functional, the stands modes are great, but it only comes in black and isn't particularly attractive. It weighs in at 132 g / 4.66 oz.

The invellop case is also very nice. Stand mode is great, but it too nly comes in black and isn't particulary attractive, but I like it slightly more than Kay's in terms of looks, but less so in terms of stand mode. It weighs in at 138g / 4.87 oz.

I have two plastic backs...these are both nice but, IMO, have a flaw that there is only a thin strip to protect the edge on the front along the lightning connector, and this strip moves quite easily, meaning that that area won't be protected well. But these guys weigh like 56g / 1.98 oz. Superlight.

I'm going to return a wifi iPad mini in favor of the 4g/LTE version, so I wanted to protect it with a passion. I also plan to sell the LTE version in a year when the Retina version comes out (let us not fool ourselves, it will come) so I want the exterior to be prefect, yet I will use this everyday.

To me, a heavy case is a draw back because it works agaisnt the very reason I bought the mini -- its lightness. So, I have another delimma to deal with. Lookswise, the Peotic wins the day. I might be able to live with it by not using the same mode much. So I'm seeing how that goes. If I just hold the mini in my hands most of the time, the will work. I do plan to take it out of the house on weekends, so I want the cover for that reason. Otherwise, the plastic gel type backs would work.

The good news is that all of these cases were relatively cheap. I wish all case vendors would give the weight of their cases.

Take a look at products from the Joy Factory. I'm loving the slimline I purchased for my new iPad. The cover is very secure and has the wake on opening feature. I brought mine on Amazon. It covers front and back.

Take a look at products from the Joy Factory. I'm loving the slimline I purchased for my new iPad. The cover is very secure and has the wake on opening feature. I brought mine on Amazon. It covers front and back.

☮&hearts;

Click to expand...

Can you say how much it weighs? It is a nice case...but for the cost, I need to know it will be light in weight.

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